Independent MP Jami-Lee Ross says he understands the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) investigation
into a complaint on a National Party donation is looking at tracing the money back
through different bank accounts. More >>

His visit struck a sour note. The Australian prime minister Scott Morrison was making
an effort to show he cared: about those intangible things called borders, secure
firm and shut to the unwanted human matter coming by sea. The distant Australian ... More >>

F or better and worse, this is a small country, and the business community in Northland
is smaller still. Beyond that again, the sources of venture capital for Maori business
endeavours up North must be vanishingly small. Therefore, almost from its inception, ... More >>

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern began her weekly press conference by noting that a
date had been set for the official opening of the ongoing China-NZ Year of tourism.
Delays in this event had contributed to suggestions of deteriorating relations between ... More >>

“I will not comply with this, or any other grand jury.” So explained Chelsea
Manning in justifying her refusal to answer questions and comply with a grand jury
subpoena compelling her to testify on her knowledge of WikiLeaks. “Imprisoning ... More >>

The Government’s seemingly naive belief the release of the Tax Working Group’s
report would spark a reasoned debate on tax reform has been dashed, greatly reducing
the political opportunity for the expansion of environmental taxes. More >>

Fear them for their technology; fear them for their ideology and their authoritarianism.
But embrace interference and involvement in the economy if it involves coal. This
is the fancy hypocrisy of Australian politics, one driven to lunacy and inconsistency ... More >>

Winston Peters, foreign affairs minister in New Zealand’s Labour Party-led government,
used a two-day visit to Fiji late last month to announce measures to bolster Fiji’s
military and “take the Fiji-New Zealand relationship to a new level.” More >>

Think charity, think vulnerability and its endless well of opportunistic exploitation.
Over the years, international charity organisations have been found with employees
keen to take advantage of their station. That advantage has been sexual, financial ... More >>

The recent reports of five endangered sea lions killed in one week in New Zealand
waters by Sanford squid fishing vessels is disquieting. These sea lions were caught
near the Auckland Island marine sanctuary in the Southern Ocean, which is their main ... More >>

After public consultation, the Auckland Council’s Governing Body has asked Government
to ban the private use and sale of fireworks. Of 8000 public submissions, almost
90 per cent were in support of a ban. Many submissions held concerns for the safety ... More >>

Immigration records of the convicted gangster Karel Sroubek suggest his fellow Czech
kickboxer Jan Antolik - whose passport he used to evade authorities as a wanted man
- may also have come to New Zealand. More >>

Commentators have described the proposed tax as a “mangy dog”, “an envy tax”,
an “attack on the kiwi way of life” and “offensive to New Zealand values”...
Missing from the debate is the fact that a capital gains tax should reduce income ... More >>

Much has been written of late about the ‘problems’ of the Journalism industry
and in particular the impacts of consolidation and layoffs on local news coverage.
However, I would propose that to the extent that Journalism does in fact have a problem, ... More >>

PM Ardern discussed Mark Taylor, a New Zealand recruit to ISIS in Syria now held
by the Kurdish forces, with Justice Minister (and minister responsible for the security
services) Andrew Little. The government had no intention of leaving Mr Taylor stateless ... More >>

They could not hold on. A small – and in the scheme of things negligible group
– split from the British Labour mothership last month in an effort to salvage some
self-described form of credibility. In truth, they were the original sceptics of ... More >>

About four months ago, I organized over 100 scholars, intellectuals, and activists
to publish an open letter to Senator Bernie Sanders, which was then signed by over
10,000 more people, several of whom volunteered to deliver it to Senator Sanders. ... More >>

The scandal now engulfing Justin Trudeau and his Liberal Party is the kind of train
wreck that confirms the public’s worst feelings about politicians and their back-room
dealings. The fact that the Mr Nice Guy of global politics is at the centre of it ... More >>

Yorgos Lanthimos likes his subjects deranged and troubled. He likes seeing queens
in the slap, servants in the lurch, and women in mud. But that is just one side.
The Favourite is a film of exotic, exorbitant bitchery, filmed with aesthetic relish. ... More >>

Neko Case ( Hell-On ) is one of today's great live singer-songwriters, and a highlight
of the Auckland Arts Festival . Her oeuvre ranges from ruminations like ‘Afraid’
(“You are beautiful, and you are alone”) to barnstormers like ‘Man’ (“I ... More >>